Riding in traffic? Be confident, not cocky

Between big rides there’s the phenomenal American River bike trail about two miles from my house that I occasionally ride to stay in shape. But these local rides are bookmarked by a sometimes nasty bit of riding with traffic. Most of the time it’s early in the day on the way out, and the traffic is fairly sparse. But I always dread the last stretch coming home because it throws a lot at you: a perfect storm of thick traffic with plenty of side shows: three signaled intersections in a row that are typically busy, a light rail line that crosses the road that sometimes halts traffic, a couple of freeway onramps, and finally, a freeway offramp/light that is the last obstacle to the paved bike path that connects to my neighborhood.

Of course, that last intersection is often where a car or truck is either stopped or rolling slowly, looking to take a right turn. I make a hand signal that I want to ride in front of them so I can turn right to my neighborhood connector path.

This last situation is the biggest calculated risk of this trafficky stretch. Trying to see if the driver sees me and won’t floor it while I ride in front of him or her. This is a snap judgment. Only once so far did a car start moving while I was in front of it, and it forced me to skid turn to make the sidewalk ramp and avoid banging into the sidewalk. When I get through this last tricky part, I always take a deep breath and give a thank you to the sky!

So this final sprint with traffic is like what Forrest Gump said about a box of chocolates: Ya never know what you’re gonna get.

I keep doing this route because it’s the shortest connection from my neighborhood to the American River bike trail, even though it can be a bit “grippy” as they say. Still, it’s been teaching me a little bit about riding safely in thick traffic, each time I do it.

I learned early on that when the right lane turns into a freeway onramp, you can suddenly be stuck in no man’s land on a bike. So that means I have to get in the middle lane before the light, and signal to drivers that I’m doing so, hoping that they (1) see me, and (2) don’t want to push me off the lane, and/or (3) honk to express their unhappiness about my riding a bike in the lane.

Sometimes I get honked at, and get a bit jumpy. Other times I take the honk in stride, no stress. I just keep pedaling and try a friendly wave or nod. Just take it and let it blow over, and hope the pissed off driver goes ahead!

Most drivers in this stretch have cooperated if I’m clear about signaling my move into the center lane. But some drivers making a right hand turn onto the street, that also need to get into the center lane to avoid the right onramp lane, are less than chirpy to see a cyclist in the center lane space they think is theirs! They have the mindset of, “The road is for cars, idiot, not bikes! Move the blank outta the way!”

This happened a few days ago, and the frustrated Black Friday driver leaned on the horn at seeing me in my lane position. He then gunned the car with a right turn, sped ahead onto the right onramp lane, then darted two lanes to the left to get to the Target store left turn at the next light. I just kept pedaling, hanging with traffic flow, and it was fine.

I’ve heard other cyclists say it’s important to claim a lane you take; that is, don’t be on the right edge if there’s no bike lane, or cars are easily able to pinch you into the sidewalk edge. The advice was something like, claim the lane, but also don’t hog it, presumably so cars have room to pass you on the left. That makes sense, but can be hairy when drivers are gunning their engines around you, clearly irked that you’re making them lose precious seconds in travel time.

I’ve noticed that drivers often underestimate the speed of a road bike traveling in a lane, and that can lead to problems. They can be looking to make a right turn ahead and feel they can easily pass the cyclist, then safely make the turn. But if they suddenly realize the cyclist is moving faster than they thought, instead of going behind them, which is the safe solution, they sometimes feel a need to beat them to the turn, so they floor it and try. This competitive rather than cooperative, gotta beat you there mentality, also happens a lot on freeways between cars trading places to enter and exit.

I have a friend who was on his bike when a car quickly made a right turn right in front of him, forcing him to hit it. He flew off his bike, wrecking his left shoulder. The driver never stopped. A year and three surgeries later his shoulder is healed, but that accident is etched in his mind. The good news is the driver, a teen in his parents’ car, later fessed up. So police and insurance claims were involved.

Now, with the potential car clashes foremost in my mind, part of me wants to figure out a way to avoid this little stretch, or at least some of it. But I just keep riding it and hope for the best. So far it’s worked out, but it can get a little tense! Hope my luck keeps up.

Now I figure probably the most experienced and expert bike riders in city traffic are couriers, those maniacs that deliver documents from office to office. While I wonder about the bike couriers that don’t wear helmets and have a “hit me if you dare” attitude when weaving though traffic, the fact is, these riders have serious skills in negotiating their way through traffic.

A recently released movie, “Premium Rush,” had a Manhattan bike courier innocently caught in the crossfire of criminal activity. Lots of expert riding, close calls and crashes in that movie. But then, it was all slickly choreographed to look like seat of the pants riding. It wasn’t actual, live, improvised riding done through traffic with smooth efficiency, which is the key to a real world courier doing his or her job.

So I found the following video from a professional courier talking shop with a few tips about riding (which I liked) and the frustrations of the job (not fun sometimes, go figure!). But she makes some good points about a good mindset to have while riding with traffic. They really rang true to me. Check it out, see if you agree!

Thanks Janessa! 
Hopefully, traffic riding, which always has the occasional angry driver weighing in, will become a more cooperative effort between cars and bikes as drivers get more used to seeing and sharing the road with riders. Lots of mayhem has occurred over clashes between drivers and riders angling for road space. But it can be minimized, of course, if we all just work with each other. For riders, I think riding with confidence and purpose, but also, with respect for drivers, using hand signals for turns and acknowledgement, is a good approach. May not always work, but it’s a positive step in the right direction!

So until next time, remember to always strap on a helmet before every ride. And then, do all you can to keep the rubber side down!

-- Mark Eric Larson

Mark Eric Larson has written two books of essays, "The NERVE...of Some People's Kids," and "Don't Force it, Get a Bigger Hammer. To read, visit: 
http://www.scribd.com/Mark%20Eric%20Larson/shelf